Scientists Solve Mystery of Ireland's Moving Boulders 127
Hugh Pickens writes "How has a 78-ton boulder traveled 130 meters inland from the sea since 1991? Live Science reports that geologists have puzzled for years over the mysterious boulders that litter the desolate coastline of Ireland's Aran Islands that somehow move on their own when no one is looking. The sizes of the boulders in the formations range 'from merely impressive to mind-bogglingly stupendous,' writes geoscientist Rónadh Cox. While some researchers contend that only a tsunami could push these stones, new research finds that plain old ocean waves, with the help of some strong storms, do the job. Some boulders move inland at an average rate of nearly 3 meters per decade, with one rock moving 3.5 meters vertically and 69 meters horizontally in one year. The team compared modern high-altitude photos of the coastline to a set of meticulous maps from 1839 that identified the location of the boulders' ridges — nearly 100 years after the most recent tsunami to hit the region, which struck in 1755. The Aran cliffs rise nearly vertically out of the Atlantic (video), leaving very deep water close to the shore. As waves slam into the sheer cliff, that water is abruptly deflected back out toward the oncoming waves. This backflow may amplify subsequent waves resulting an occasional storm wave that is much larger than one would expect. 'There's a tendency to attribute the movement of large objects to tsunami,' says Cox. 'We're saying hold the phone. Big boulders are getting moved by storm waves.'"
Well holy god (Score:5, Funny)
Next thing "science" will probably try and explain moving statues.
Re:Well holy god (Score:5, Insightful)
My understanding is that they have not solved it, rather they have just suggested a mechanism. They found that even when there are no tsunamis the rocks are moving. They now think that storm waves could be a reason for it. If I understand correctly, they have not done the calculations for it.
So, now we have a hypothesis. Once the calculations and simulations are done, only then we will know for sure. Moving such big rocks means a lot of energy. Especially when it doesnt float. Can a positive feedback loop generate this much energy ? If so, who knows, positive feedback tidal waves could be the next big thing in renewable energy :)
Re:Well holy god (Score:5, Interesting)
Once the calculations and simulations are done, only then we will know for sure.
I couldn't agree LESS. Simulations don't prove anything. They are just imperfect models of the world to help our understanding. Proof would be to measure a REAL storm wave moving the bolder.
Proof with simulation (Score:2)
Proof would be to measure a REAL storm wave moving the bolder.
Or use the simulation and see if a wave occurs as predicted by it.
Re: (Score:2)
That all sounds very complicated. Isn't it much simpler to believe in Intelligent Rolling?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
I thought he was making a Doctor Who reference.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
"they're coming. The angels are coming for you, but listen, your life could depend on this: don't blink. Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead. They are fast, faster than you could believe. Don't turn your back, don't look away, and don't blink!"
Re: (Score:2)
Anti-theist strawman. Please cite a credible source where a religious institution or representative thereof states as an article of faith that the cause was not natural and, hence, inaccessible to science.
You're kidding right? Didn't a bunch of cults spring up overnight when this "miracle" happened? Fair enough, the mainstream churches all distanced themselves from these nutjobs but at the time the believers all decided that they saw what they saw, science be damned.
I guess you'll refute the above because I haven't provided any sources, but it wouldn't matter because those guys don't represent a true "religious institution" anyway, which of course becomes much easier if you separate religious types into "tho
Re: (Score:1)
In fairness I think even a few bishops administered a sharp belt of the crozier to the dopy religious eejits who were proclaiming it was a miracle.
This happened the last time we had a recession, I'm surprised it hasn't started happening again. We love a good recession us Catholics we do, it's a truly miserable time and all the better for it.
Re: (Score:2)
That sort of fits in with the ad that was served to me in the middle of TFA. No, this isn't a joke (well, the site may be, but I haven't been there, but the ad is real). It was this -
"The End-Time is Here!
www.the-end.com
2008 was God's last warning. 2012 is economic collapse & WW III"
Some people are crazy.
Re: (Score:1)
They didn't do it to all of them. Only to the ones they could reach diagonally.
Re: (Score:1)
The worst of the nutjobs are easy to spot. :)
If you think that aliens dumped bodies into a volcano in Hawaii and that is the cause of all your problems. You are a nutjob.
If you believe in the teachings of a book and then do exactly the opposite because the church tells you to. You are a nutjob.
If you kill women and children because your God told you to. You are a nutjob.
If you believe that a perfect God is vengeful, petty and mean. You are a nutjob.
The rest of you are just wrong.
Unless of course you are cur
Re: (Score:1)
Yes. I only as per my post went after the worst of them.
Long live Foamy. May Foamy save me from his Squirrely Wrath.
I thought the cause was established years ago (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I thought the cause was established years ago (Score:5, Funny)
I was always told the cause of seeing boulders move in Ireland was Whiskey.
Depends... if you see the boulder moving up, 't's Whiskey and you're lying on the ground... if downward, it's stout (and you're taking a leak on the boulder).
Re: (Score:2)
Oblig Brian O'Nolan reference (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Maybe he markets himself to americans as such to part you from your hard-earned. Who knows.
A lot of Irish (and especially English, e.g. John Cleese, Sharon Osbourne etc) make
Re: (Score:1)
You've never heard of Myles na gCopaleen/Flann O'Brien? Seriously? Ask some of your friends have they heard of him, I guarantee most will.
Re: (Score:3)
Brian O'Nolan [wikipedia.org]
Brian O'Nolan (Irish: Brian Ó Nualláin) (5 October 1911 – 1 April 1966) was an Irish novelist, playwright and satirist regarded as a key figure in postmodern literature.[1] Born in Strabane, County Tyrone, he is best known for English language novels such as At Swim-Two-Birds, and The Third Policeman (written under the nom de plume Flann O'Brien) as well as many satirical columns in The Irish Times and an Irish language novel An Béal Bocht (written under the name Myles na gCopaleen), O'Nolan has also been referred to as a "scientific prophet" in relation to his writings on thermodynamics, quaternion theory and atomic theory.
Re: (Score:2)
It is one thing to laugh at a stereotype; it is quite another to "fully believe in" it. If you really believe that all or even most Americans "fully believe in" those stereotypes, then I suggest that you have made the mistake of fully believing in an incorrect stereotype.
Sea aliens?? (Score:4, Interesting)
Why would anyone think that sea aliens would do such a thing, when there are Selkies [wikipedia.org] about?
Re: (Score:2)
Why would anyone think that sea aliens would do such a thing, when there are Selkies [wikipedia.org] about?
Especially in the Shetlands where they resemble small horses.
Density is what matters (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
"And what also floats in water?"
"Bread!"
"Apples!"
"...Very small rocks!"
I'm afraid the Scientists of the Knights of the Round Table have concluded that only *tiny* rocks may float as you suggest.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Who are you, so wise in the ways of witchery?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I used to live in central Oregon, and a reservoir near where I lived had rocks that floated - even biggish ones. They are made of pumice, rocks full of air. (Hmm. I wonder - is it air by now, or is it the hellish fumes from the volcano still trapped inside?)
I went to a catholic school in Northern Ireland (Score:4, Funny)
In the middle of one of our courtyards, we had a small shrine with a statue of Mary, depicting the appearance of her at Lourdes. There was also a lot of rocks and plants for decoration.
One day, we came into school and one of the larger boulders had been moved across the yard to the other side. It had a note attached to it saying "It's a miracle, it moved!".
True story.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
How about a human driving a backhoe?
Re: (Score:2)
Depending on the grounds keeper's work ethic it might still be a miracle.
Question (Score:2)
Are they sure that it wasn't Ireland that was moving instead?
Re: (Score:2)
Old joke: How many Irish does it take to change a light bulb? Three, one to hold the bulb and two to drink until the room spins.
Those rocks are probably just drunk. They are Irish, after all.
They don't get it... (Score:2, Funny)
...it's the Leprechauns.
And no mention of their American Cousins? (Score:5, Interesting)
has no one heard of the sailing stones?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailing_stones [wikipedia.org]
Sailing stones, sliding rocks, and moving rocks all refer to a geological phenomenon where rocks move in long tracks along a smooth valley floor without human or animal intervention. They have been recorded and studied in a number of places around Racetrack Playa, Death Valley, where the number and length of travel grooves are notable. The force behind their movement is not confirmed and is the subject of research.
Which by the way- occur on land masses devoid of water????
Re:And no mention of their American Cousins? (Score:5, Informative)
The force behind their movement is not confirmed and is the subject of research.
Irony: It has been confirmed, and it is ice
Re: (Score:3)
Death valley, is not devoid of Water, it does actually get very cold there sometimes ....
The Sailing stones probably move by differential ice formation
The rocks in Ireland were assumed to have moved during the last Tsunami (1700's) but now someone has bothered to study them, they have found they have definitely moved recently, just like the locals said all along) , the mechanism is unlikely to be the same as the desert rocks ...?
Re: (Score:2)
I'm pretty sure that it gets very cold in places without water, and gets very wet in places where it doesn't get very cold. So, what exactly is the purpose of your first statement?
Re: (Score:2)
If there is both water and it gets cold then you can get ice. Surely that was obvious???
Re: (Score:2)
My first sentence has an "and" in it, maybe learn how to read. The bit of text specifying the author might be a good place to start.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
http://onemansblog.com/2007/09/06/death-valleys-sailing-stones-mystery-solved/ [onemansblog.com]
metres != miles (Score:1)
FTFA (first line):
How did a 78-ton boulder travel 17 miles above high water, 130 meters inland?
This is the start of an entirely different news article that I can complete in two words: it didn't.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I think it's trying to reach low-earth orbit.
Obvious (Score:2)
I can't believe that this was a mystery. This is completely obvious to anyone who can think. There is a similar phenomenon with the moving rocks in the Death Valley. If you have water and wind you can basically move anything given enough time.
Re: (Score:2)
Not to mention one of the team being quoted as “Unless you have little green men from mars doing this on the quiet, it must be storm wav
Wave this (Score:1)
Aren't leprechauns much more parsimonious?
Climate Change (Score:2)
The oceans are just receding
leprechauns (Score:2)
Title of summary is misleading. (Score:3)
Instead of "Scientists Solve Mystery of Ireland's Moving Boulders" it should read "Scientists *Deepen* Mystery of Ireland's Moving Boulders."
This is what the linked article amounts to. Scientists believed that tsunamis moved the boulders in question. Comparing aerial photos to old surveys of the islands show that can't be the explanation, because boulders have moved since the last tsunami. The scientists then speculated that it might be rogue waves. Then they ginned up a plausible mechanism by which rogue waves might be more common on Aran than thought. Because it was plausible they concluded that *must* be the explanation, because the next best thing they could think up is little green men.
For the record, I think rogue waves moved the boulders. I've seen what waves can do to stony reefs, and the power of water is not to be underestimated. But I have no proof, and neither do they. If the articles are to be believed (which is often doubtful), they researchers are building models around the *assumption* that it must have been rogue waves. Using such a model as evidence of its assumptions would be begging the question.
Math problem? (Score:2)
Or just inconsistent writing?
"How has a 78-ton boulder traveled 130 meters inland from the sea since 1991? ... Some boulders move inland at an average rate of nearly 3 meters per decade,....
The way I learned math 130m in 21 years is much greater than 3m/decade.
Free Will (Score:2)
This is evidence that, as suggested by Aristotle thousands of years ago, rocks have free will. They are not pulled to the center of the earth by an "invisible" force as was suggested by Newton, but the rocks prefer to be closer to larger rocks, of which our planet is a colony of closely connected rocks. The rocks in Ireland are most likely moving inland of their own free will so they can self-assemble into structures such as the one found at Stonehenge in England. Even when faced with clear and convincin
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The rocks have a sense of humor.
By the way, you seem to be lacking one.
Not the same for Death Valley boulders (Score:2)
"Once a corral of wooden stakes was placed around two of the rocks. The team then left. (Remember, the rocks won't move when anyone is around.) When they returned, one rock had moved out, while the other stayed in the corral. The rocks seem to slide rather than roll, but to this day, no one knows why. The only certainty is that something is either pushing or pulling them."
TFA is a good theory for Ireland but there must be something else at work in Death Valley. Ice has been ruled out as well.
http://voices.y [yahoo.com]
Re: (Score:2)
No, ice has not ruled out,in fact it's been recorded happening.
Did you just toss the sentence out because?
anyways:
http://onemansblog.com/2007/09/06/death-valleys-sailing-stones-mystery-solved/ [onemansblog.com]
Re: (Score:2)
I see video of the water being pushed by wind across the shore. No big deal. Wind-driven water can 'pile up' at one end of a body of water, like a storm surge.
What I don't see is video footage of said water freezing and then rocks sliding around on it. Or rocks being pushed by it.
What about other locations? (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
other location have been sold as well.
Wind, water or ice in the correct circumstances.
Not 78-tons under water (Score:2)
What a bunch or propaganda (Score:2)
It's ghosts, and water that move the rocks. I mean, what happens when you put a rock on water? it sinks, clearly water can't move rocks~
This is all made up so scientists can get grants and force more taxes down are thought.
AGW sound like this, but 100 times worse.
Re:Wow (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:1)
My bubble's quite intact, never fear.
Re: (Score:2)
Shut it O'Malley.. we need to be goin', the pub is about to open and I need a pint in me to deal with these english bastards.
I can do that, I'm irish!
Cosnóimid Tír na nÓg go deo!!
Re: (Score:1, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Wow (Score:5, Funny)
Oh no; we're a competition.
Re: (Score:2)
Sorry to burst your bubble but the Irish are not a race.
That's arguable given the cultural history of Ireland, however you would be hard put to not identify the Irish as a Nation [wikipedia.org]
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, or history.[1] In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government (for example the inhabitants of a sovereign state) irrespective of their ethnic make-up.[2][3] In international relations, nation can refer to a country or sovereign state.[1] The word nation can more specifically refer to people of North American Indians, such as the Cherokee Nation that prefer this term over the contested term tribe.
Discriminating against an entire nation is a form of xenophobia which is largely akin to racism. (If I go any further someone will call Godwin and we can all go home...)
Re: (Score:2)
We just take our cue from all those Irish people who still live in the 1920's and think it's just fine hating each other for backing the wrong religion team.
Re: (Score:1)
Thats northern ireland, a british adminstered territory, a completely different country.
If only all the Irish thought this way there would never have been a conflict.
Re: (Score:2)
If only the english had stayed out of the place originally there likewise would never have been a conflict.
s/english/scots/.
Of course we drove the Scots out of the highlands so it is still our fault indirectly.
Re: (Score:2)
As the linked comment suggests the Irish PM de Valera did not trust Churchill's secret promise - and he had some very good reasons not to.
In WWI Britain had made public expansive promises of autonomy to India in exchange for that nation's vigorous support of the war effort - only to be met with the extremely repressive Rowlatt Act in 1919, followed by the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar, Punjab.
In the massacre Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer had the British Army block all escape routes for a large cro
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Well I'm Irish, living in Ireland, and as far as I can tell from watching the country fall apart around me; no, things don't seem to have moved on very much at all.
The country was bankrupted by a drunken Taoiseach, and is now being pauperised by religious one. People are emigrating in droves and TDs respond by complain about the problems of "fornication". Landlords, lawyers, and bankers are living high on an ascendancy hoc while everyone e
Re:Wow (Score:4, Interesting)
There isn't one sentence in there resembling reality. The country was bankrupted by a lying scumbag (Ahern) and an incompetent Finance Minister (Lenihan). Cowen was just a puppet. I must have missed the great fornication debate that seems to be taking up 100% of the time of 100% of the politicians in the country. Oh wait, no I didn't, because it was one back country TD making one ridiculous comment. More news you appear to have missed, the landlords of some twenty plus houses were forcibly evicted from their own palatial residence recently, there are plenty of unemployed solicitors, and even bankers have joined the dole queues. I know a few of them personally.
Perhaps the time has come for you to take a good look in the mirror and ask yourself who is looking back, because its not someone with a firm grasp on reality. That's even if you are in Ireland, because nobody here refers to solicitors as "lawyers".
Re: (Score:2)
That suggestion was quickly met with a fiery and typically bolshie response from Brian Cowen -- the man on whose watch as finance minister most of the worst crimes were committed. "We're not fucking nationalising Anglo," [independent.ie] he shouted as he slammed the table.
Re:Wow (Score:4, Funny)
Cool! An Irish flame war - that's something I haven't seen on /. before! *GB fills his cup, sits back to watch.
Re: (Score:1)
:^D I thought that you meant Great Britain, not Gary Bickford.
Re: (Score:2)
Haha! I hadn't thought of that, but it works both ways. :)
Re: (Score:2)
That suggestion was quickly met with a fiery and typically bolshie response from Brian Cowen -- the man on whose watch as finance minister most of the worst crimes were committed. "We're not fucking nationalising Anglo," [independent.ie] he shouted as he slammed the table.
So what? He took his orders from Ahern, and Ahern set things in motion in such a way that a crash was inevitable. Lenihan then authorised the disastrous blanket banking guarantee after a tense and secret midnight meeting with the top bankers.
Context is everything [blogspot.com]. The comments were made in the middle of a debate about
...what does that have to do with what I said? You're painting visions of politicians tearing their hair out over "fornication" when it was just one nutty backwoods TD, who has since been kept firmly muzzled by the party.
I'll just refer you and all your friends who have run off to London and transferred assets to their wives and children to this article on the grand delusions of property "victims" [irishexaminer.com].
Oh right so all of the investment property owners
Re: (Score:2)
But what are we supposed to do when the stereotype starts ringing true? Pretend there's no basis to it? Or that anyone pointing out flaws in the Irish is always wrong, or racist, or should be ignored?
You need to ask yourself the question: What if the Irish really _are_ a race of feckless, stupid, drunks, and the present state of the country is the proof of it?
Re: (Score:2)
But what are we supposed to do when the stereotype starts ringing true? Pretend there's no basis to it?
What the hell is wrong with you. Every single point about the "stupidity" of Irish people above has been demolished, even the ad hominems and strawmen you wheeled out, and you're still sticking to this madness. I'm making no excuses for the government or the political system that muppet DeValera landed on us, but as if to say Ireland is the only country in the world that elected bad politicians from time to time. The Germans elected a couple of bad politicians in the not too distant past, are you calling th
Re: (Score:2)
I said it was racist to stereotype Irish people as stupid, which it is.
We all agree. But then you suggested the person making the remark was English. Pot, meet kettle.
Re: (Score:2)
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2834595&cid=39927565 [slashdot.org]
Re: (Score:2)
I'm missing the logical leap in your response. How does a comment referring to the Ulster Plantations and displacement of the Scots somehow justify your racist remark? Are you suggesting that events of 400 years ago are paramount to modern bigotry?
I really, really, hope that you're not suggesting that the British occupation of Northern Ireland means you can simply label every member of a nationality in a derogatory fashion. That really would be an ignorant and dangerous attitude. Even stupid.
Re: (Score:2)
Read it again slower. He is, in fact, English.
Re: (Score:2)
Ah, well. What would Ireland be without pointless suffering at the hands of stupid, greedy blockheads?
Re: (Score:2)
Ah, well. What would Ireland be without pointless suffering at the hands of stupid, greedy blockheads?
But its a member of the European Union now .... oh wait
I lived near Kilburn once... (Score:2)
True story: I was in an Irish glaziers in Kilburn when a man came in with an order. He started to read it out and the man behind the counter said "How do I know that comes from your boss? If I know him he'll deny all knowledge of it." The
Re: (Score:2)
That's called "slagging", and its something of an art form in certain circles. :D The op, not so much. Look, right now I'm arguing with a guy who seriously seems to think the Irish are "a race of feckless, stupid, drunks", and that's not funny at all. I hope the difference is clear.